I am considering a job in Austin, TX and was wondering what the water sports scene was like down there. I am living right in the heart of The California Delta right now. Is there water close to Austin? Are there too many boats?....stuff like that. If anyone from the area could help me out it would be awesome. I love Cali, but could I love Texas is what I am asking.

Evan - I recently re-located to the Dallas area. This has been a great move for me, my family and especially my boat. Texans complain about all of the boats on the water here, but they have never been to Parker strip, Elsinore after 6:00 in the summer on a weekend or in LA traffic trying to get out of town on a Friday night. Austin has a great boating scene, and some great lakes. Make the move, you won't regret it.

Ya,Austin Rules chek out www.texasskiranch.com its got a cable park, skate park, wakeboard comp lake, motocross track,BAR, mastercraft dealership,a sick boardshop. What Iam trying to say is it has got it all!! and its close to Austin.

Right on Flack, I made the move from southern cal to the Fort Woth area, about two years ago and dont regret it at all. I moved From Huntington Beach, how about you what part of so cal did you move from?

Evan- If you are going to buy a house back there, keep one thing in mind...property tax is like 3%! My wife and I thought about maybe making a move a few months ago because the housing market looked really good and we thought we may have a job. We thought we would sell our house for about 500K and move back there to a much nicer / bigger house for about 400K. The only problem was that we would be paying 12k a year prop tax if we did - that's 1G a month just in taxes! Even if you buy a house for 200-300K you are still looking at 6-9K a year in taxes. Just something to think about.

I'm sure it would still be a nice place to live. I did email some people who live there about the wakeboarding and didn't get any negitave responses. I also checked out a couple taxas wakeboarding sites that made it look pretty promising.

BTW, my total propery tax is 2.12%. Depends on where you live, if there is a MUD, community college tax, etc.

As for cost of living, Austin is the highest in TX, but still WAY less than CA. I built a new 5BR 3300 sq ft. house on 3/4 acre two years ago for $190k. Yes, you can spend more with a custom builder, but still, heh. For the $400k you mention you could be living in a house on the lake with a boat dock.

As for good riding spots, don't ask. We keep them secret. ;)

If you can make it down in a few weeks, come to the Waketoberfest event, and check out the scene. You can hang on my boat if we have room.

No state income tax is good, plus property tax is a write off on your federal tax...not a bad gig! We were looking to do the same thing, but realized that we would be 12 hours away from the nearest family and since we do a lot with family that was bad. My daughter is only 6 and it's nice that she has a big extended family around her.

Evan - The cost of living is fairly comparable on food, fuel clothing et al. The big difference is in housing. Depending upon where you buy, your property taxes could look daunting, until you figure in all of the taxes in California. You can pay up to 3% here, but in areas of California with Mello-Roos assesments you could be paying 2% on a much more expensive house. Also add in your State income tax, and you could be way over the property tax bill in Texas. I find the taxes here are netting about $1000/month lower than they were in California.

Air Conditioning bills are higher because the weather doesn't cool off at night like in California, but you get used to it pretty quickly. I suggest you fly out and spend a few days in Austin getting to know the area. You may really like the area.

Innov8 - I left Corona for Texas. It wasn't such a big shock to see pick ups and hicks like it would have been moving from the beach! Save a spot in your boat for me to ride. I'm tired of my wife's driving, I need new ride partners.

Ya Flack I owned a motcross track in Beaumont Caiforina so I know what you are talking about. They are building like crazy out there now, wish I still owned the 30 acres my track was on I hear there building like crazy in that area. But I have no regrets I still did good on the land and got a good start out here. Ya we got alot of good riders coming out of Granbury Tx, and we got the river (tin top) one of the best places to ride in the state. Come on out anytime and check it out its the sh**. Later, Jeff (innov8 Action Sports.